Isla Margarita is an island in the Caribbean. It is about 40 km from the coast Venezuela removed and forms most of the province Nueva Esparta.
Regions
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The island is clearly divided into two peninsulas, which are connected in the middle by an isthmus.
- Paraguachoa the larger eastern part is called, the name goes back to the Guaiqueri and means rich fishing grounds. Almost all cities on the island are located in this densely populated region. It is criss-crossed from north to south by a chain of hills up to 900 m high.
- Macanao is the western smaller part, it is relatively dry and therefore not very useful for agriculture. The range of hills running in the interior of the peninsula from east to west reaches a height of up to 760 m.
- The isthmus La Restinga connects the two peninsulas, on it there are two 75 m high hills, called Tetas de Maria Guevara (Breasts of Maria Guevara), they have been a natural monument since 1974. A lagoon stretches along this isthmus, which became a national park in 2002 Parque Nacional Laguna de la Restinga explained.
places
- La Asunción - Capital of the island and the Arismendi district
- Porlamar, largest city on the island
- Pampatar, Fishing village in the southeast
- El Valle del Espíritu Santo, Place of pilgrimage in the interior of the island
- Manzanillo, fishing village in the far north of the island near Punta Cabo Negro
- La Guardia, village on the north coast not far from the Parque Nacional Laguna de la Restinga
- Juangriego, fishing village on the north coast
- Boca del Río, place on the Macanao Peninsula
Other goals
- The archipelago Los Frailes is a popular destination for snorkeling or diving. It consists of 7 smaller, sparsely populated islands belonging to the Dependencias Federales belong. They are located near the east coast of Isla Margarita and are by the beaches Playa el Agua, Playa Parguito and Playa el Tirano easy to get to by boat.
background
The island was discovered by Columbus on August 15, 1498 during his third voyage to the New World. He named her in Isla de Margarita after the princess Margaret of Austria. A second interpretation of the name results from the Latin, there it says Margarita For pearl, and indeed there was an abundance of pearls on the small neighboring island of Cubagua, which was then used by the indigenous people. This aroused desires among the Spaniards, both for the pearl grounds and the Guaiqueri exploited.
The island is a free trade area. Since there are no taxes when shopping, it is quite popular with Venezuelans as a holiday destination and therefore regularly overcrowded over Christmas and Easter. Petrol is particularly inexpensive, 1 l currently (as of 2011) costs the equivalent of less than 10 cents. The gasoline consumption therefore plays only a very minor role in Venezuela, which is probably why you can see in the street scene similar to in Cuba still a large number of road cruisers, some in a similarly poor technical condition. However, groceries are more expensive than on the mainland.
The Venezuelan bolivar is the currency on Isla Margarita VEF (ISO 4217), US $ is sometimes accepted, but it is cheaper to exchange money. ATMs are available in major cities and shopping centers.
The same time applies on the island as on the Venezuelan mainland: UTC - 4:30 and not like on the other Caribbean islands UTC - 4. Cruise ships often do not change their on-board clocks because of this island, this must be taken into account on shore excursions.
Isla Margarita is home to numerous rare and exotic animal species, e.g. the black-tailed parakeet Aratinga acuticaudata neoxena ("Venezuelan blue-fronted parakeet"), which only lives on this island, or the yellow-shouldered parrot, an endangered species of parrot that only occurs on the Caribbean islands and small areas on the north coast of Venezuela. In particular, the dry forests on the western part of the island are protected areas for endangered animals. For example, the La Restinga lagoon is protected as a national park. Brown pelicans and sanderlings live in their mangroves. Also endemic (that is, only found on Isla Margarita) is a subspecies of the hooded capuchin monkey. These are isolated from the rest of their species, which are actually native to the Amazon rainforest, and are threatened with extinction.
language
Spanish is spoken on Isla Margarita
getting there
By plane
The Aeropuerto Internacional del Caribe "Santiago Mariño"
(IATA: PMV) is located on Isla Margarita around 25 km west of Porlamar. It is also served seasonally by European charter planes.
By boat
- Ferry connections: between Punta de Piedras on Isla Margarita and Puerto la Cruz in mainland Venezuela there are Ferry connections. Journey time approx. 2 hours.
- The Cruise portPuerto El Guamache in the Bahia Guamache is around 5 km from Punta de Piedras away. At the port there is a passenger terminal with a duty-free shop, there are a number of booths on the way to the taxi stands and bus parking spaces that open when a ship arrives. There is also a small beach right at the harbor, which was created artificially and probably didn't deserve a price for cleanliness.
mobility
Petrol is extremely cheap, so taxis are cheap too. Buses also run, but you should bring some time.
Tourist Attractions
- Maritime Museum, in Boca del Rio.
- Macanao Peninsula. Cactus land and ocher earth.
activities
- You can swim and sunbathe on over 80 beaches on the island. The best known is the Playa del Agua on the east coast between Paraguachí and Manzanillo. There are also beautiful beaches on the north coast between La Guardia, Juangriego and Manzanillo. The long beach is definitely a destination for excursions Playa Paraiso at the westernmost point of the Macanao Peninsula.
- Kite surfing and windsurfing: Playa el Yaque in the south of the island near the airport is one of the world's best addresses.
- Hiking in the national park Cerro Copey at El Valle
- Horseback riding on the Macanao Peninsula around the Cabatucan Ranch
- Shopping in Porlamar
kitchen
nightlife
security
- Particular care should be taken in the shopping centers and the well-known beaches (Playa del Agua).
- The island's insects, especially mosquitoes, don't care much about Central European repellents. Local remedies are more reliable. But malaria does not occur here.
climate
Islands under the wind is the name of the group of the Lesser Antilles, which are not entirely in the area of the northeast trade winds. Therefore these islands are also located not in the hurricane belt. Their climate is also drier than that of the islands further north over the wind. However, the trade winds do reach these islands once a year, in the rainy season between December and February.
The climate is mild all year round with air temperatures averaging around 27 ° C, even at night it gets a little cooler, only in February the temperature drops to 23 ° C. The water temperatures are around 27 ° C - 29 ° C all year round.
